Rusty the river otter had just awoken from a late summers' sleep. Clarisse, a clark's nutcracker, was awake in Bernard's branches. Bernard was a bigleaf maple. He didn't mind Clarisse and her family living in his leaves. It didn't hurt him, it just helped the birds. This was a relationship of commensalism, one of the many ways animals interact with each other in any biome.
"Time for breakfast," said Rusty happily. Rusty lived inside Bernard, because he is hollow for about two feet. This was enough for a nice, cozy home. Rusty swam along the river bank for ten yards until he got to a foot-high drop off. He dove down into the water and came up with a wriggling trout, which he quickly ate. Just then, Rusty heard a small voice from the bank. "Oh, thanks Rusty! I think that fish was about to try to eat me! I don't know if I would have lived." Rusty looked around, and noticed that the squeaky little voice came from was Sally the sea lettuce. She was one of the many protists that lived in the temperate rainforest. "No problem." Rusty said. "After all, predator-prey relationships are what makes life work."
Bernard
Clarisse
Rusty decided to go for a walk in the temperate rainforest. He saw many plants, animals, and fungi. He thought to himself, I wish I could see all the microorganisms without that old microscope the humans left behind. Then he could meet more euglenas, bacteria, and even Nate the cyanobacteria. He was his only friend that he needed the microscope to see. As he continued his stroll, he saw Ronald the rufous hummingbird pollinating a coast indian paintbrush that he hadn't met before. He said hello to Ronald and the coast indian painbrush, and kept on going. This was mutualism, a relationship where two organisms are benefited. This was another type of relationship that the temperate rainforest has.
As Rusty continued his walk, he came upon a small, dead, tree with weird looking cups on one of the branches. They were a bright orange, and one talked to him. "Hello," it said. "My name is Otto the orange peel. I'm a sac-like fungus. Who are you?" "My name is Rusty, I'm a river otter." Rusty said. He told Otto about his day so far. "Do you want to be my friend?" Otto said. "I don't meet people because I'm stuck on this log."
"Of course," Rusty replied. "But we need to give you a home next to mine. Doug the douglas fir just passed away, and you could live on him. I think I can get you off this branch you're on by breaking it so I could carry you." "That sounds fine to me," Otto answered. "I can use my spores to get myself onto Doug, and then we can live next to each other!"
Otto
After a narrow escape from a bobcat, Rusty, panting and carrying Otto, returned to Bernard and the river. "Sorry, Otto, bobcats are my biggest predators, but I'm pretty safe inside Bernard's trunk. All of a sudden there was a loud noise, like a yell, coming from Bernard. "Bernard, what's wrong?" asked Rusty. He set Otto onto Doug, so he could spread spores on the fir. Bernard was a kind of angiosperm that never lost his cool and on no account panicked. But he was panicking. "HELP!" Bernard yelled. "The dodder family has arrived to live off of me! Help!" The chaparral dodder family was a massive parasite group that lived on plants like Bernard. They were the most feared in this part of the temperate rainforest. Parasitism was another relationship between organisms in any environment. "I'll help," Clarisse called. "I'll help, too!" Rusty said. From there, Clarisse ripped off dodder from its grasp of Bernard. Rusty tore off a bundle of the dodder. But they needed help; the family was too overwhelming! "Help! Bernard's under attack!" they yelled. Rusty spotted Ronald, and yelled for him to help. Ronald came to them and saw the battle. He instantly joined them. Then Rusty heard a faint voice, which she could tell was Nate. He said, "My 500 sisters and brothers will help, too!" Now the Cyanobacterians joined them. After they joined, they noticed more birds coming to help, more mammals coming to help, and pretty much every organism that could help joined the fight. Rusty observed that the humongous dodder family shrinking, and shrinking. The battle didn't last for too much longer. The giant amount of organisms plainly outnumbered the dodder family, and because of that, the chaparral dodder family was gone. "Thanks everybody! You saved my life!"
<Click for Enlargement> the Chaparral Dodder Family on a Plant
At the end of that enormous battle, Rusty noticed that it was time for dinner. He set himself on a big, juicy salmon. He jumped into the river, went under for a few second and came up with a big one. He brought it back to his house, and chowed it down in seconds. He said good night to Clarisse, Bernard, Otto, Ron, Nate, and all of the other animals and friends in the forest who were settling in, too. He climbed into bed, and drifted off to sleep, thinking of the adventures of the day, and the adventures of days to come.
Temperate Rainforest Fiction Page
Rusty's Temperate Rainforest Adventure
Rusty the river otter had just awoken from a late summers' sleep. Clarisse, a clark's nutcracker, was awake in Bernard's branches. Bernard was a bigleaf maple. He didn't mind Clarisse and her family living in his leaves. It didn't hurt him, it just helped the birds. This was a relationship of commensalism, one of the many ways animals interact with each other in any biome.
"Time for breakfast," said Rusty happily. Rusty lived inside Bernard, because he is hollow for about two feet. This was enough for a nice, cozy home. Rusty swam along the river bank for ten yards until he got to a foot-high drop off. He dove down into the water and came up with a wriggling trout, which he quickly ate. Just then, Rusty heard a small voice from the bank. "Oh, thanks Rusty! I think that fish was about to try to eat me! I don't know if I would have lived." Rusty looked around, and noticed that the squeaky little voice came from was Sally the sea lettuce. She was one of the many protists that lived in the temperate rainforest. "No problem." Rusty said. "After all, predator-prey relationships are what makes life work."
Rusty decided to go for a walk in the temperate rainforest. He saw many plants, animals, and fungi. He thought to himself, I wish I could see all the microorganisms without that old microscope the humans left behind. Then he could meet more euglenas, bacteria, and even Nate the cyanobacteria. He was his only friend that he needed the microscope to see. As he continued his stroll, he saw Ronald the rufous hummingbird pollinating a coast indian paintbrush that he hadn't met before. He said hello to Ronald and the coast indian painbrush, and kept on going. This was mutualism, a relationship where two organisms are benefited. This was another type of relationship that the temperate rainforest has.
As Rusty continued his walk, he came upon a small, dead, tree with weird looking cups on one of the branches. They were a bright orange, and one talked to him. "Hello," it said. "My name is Otto the orange peel. I'm a sac-like fungus. Who are you?" "My name is Rusty, I'm a river otter." Rusty said. He told Otto about his day so far. "Do you want to be my friend?" Otto said. "I don't meet people because I'm stuck on this log."
"Of course," Rusty replied. "But we need to give you a home next to mine. Doug the douglas fir just passed away, and you could live on him. I think I can get you off this branch you're on by breaking it so I could carry you." "That sounds fine to me," Otto answered. "I can use my spores to get myself onto Doug, and then we can live next to each other!"
After a narrow escape from a bobcat, Rusty, panting and carrying Otto, returned to Bernard and the river. "Sorry, Otto, bobcats are my biggest predators, but I'm pretty safe inside Bernard's trunk. All of a sudden there was a loud noise, like a yell, coming from Bernard. "Bernard, what's wrong?" asked Rusty. He set Otto onto Doug, so he could spread spores on the fir. Bernard was a kind of angiosperm that never lost his cool and on no account panicked. But he was panicking. "HELP!" Bernard yelled. "The dodder family has arrived to live off of me! Help!" The chaparral dodder family was a massive parasite group that lived on plants like Bernard. They were the most feared in this part of the temperate rainforest. Parasitism was another relationship between organisms in any environment. "I'll help," Clarisse called. "I'll help, too!" Rusty said. From there, Clarisse ripped off dodder from its grasp of Bernard. Rusty tore off a bundle of the dodder. But they needed help; the family was too overwhelming! "Help! Bernard's under attack!" they yelled. Rusty spotted Ronald, and yelled for him to help. Ronald came to them and saw the battle. He instantly joined them. Then Rusty heard a faint voice, which she could tell was Nate. He said, "My 500 sisters and brothers will help, too!" Now the Cyanobacterians joined them. After they joined, they noticed more birds coming to help, more mammals coming to help, and pretty much every organism that could help joined the fight. Rusty observed that the humongous dodder family shrinking, and shrinking. The battle didn't last for too much longer. The giant amount of organisms plainly outnumbered the dodder family, and because of that, the chaparral dodder family was gone. "Thanks everybody! You saved my life!"
At the end of that enormous battle, Rusty noticed that it was time for dinner. He set himself on a big, juicy salmon. He jumped into the river, went under for a few second and came up with a big one. He brought it back to his house, and chowed it down in seconds. He said good night to Clarisse, Bernard, Otto, Ron, Nate, and all of the other animals and friends in the forest who were settling in, too. He climbed into bed, and drifted off to sleep, thinking of the adventures of the day, and the adventures of days to come.
Click here to go to the Temperate Rainforest Factual page.
Click here to go to the Temperate Rainforest Food Web page.
Click here to go to the Temperate Rainforest Bibliography page.
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